The Great Prelude: Smallpox Vaccination
Origins of Vaccinology as a Religion Exposited in our New Book: Vaccines: Mythology, Ideology, and Reality
Jun 30, 2025
By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
In our new book Vaccines: Mythology, Ideology, and Reality, myself with acclaimed author and historian John Leake go back to the beginning of vaccinology to learn how such religious fervor evolved quickly in society centering on the magical properties of vaccines.
Vaccination, Religion, and Science: An Astonishing 300-Year-Old Story, MedPage Today, 2022
Please enjoy a peek through this window into a pivotal time in human history where townspeople, gripped in fear of a rapidly spreading illness could be vulnerable to influential figures making bold claims about a new talisman or a shield against the invader—variolation. For example, Cotton Mather, a prominent Puritan minister, believed that the practice of inoculation came from God. He viewed it as a divine gift, particularly after learning about it from his enslaved servant, Onesimus, who had experience with the practice in Africa. Mather saw it as a way for God to help those without advanced medical knowledge. Leake explains why Mather would be so personally moved to accept vaccines as part of his religious faith. Keep in mind this was before the identification of infectious agents, immunology, randomized trials, and safety databases.
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Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
President, McCullough Foundation
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